Authorities blamed for lack of info on AIDS

NST: Felda Palong Timur Satu folk want the authorities to do more to keep them informed of the deadly HIV/AIDS disease.
HIV patient Norizan Ismail, 46, who allegedly contracted HIV through a blood transfusion at Segamat district hospital and died last Friday at Kuala Lumpur Hospital, was neither the first nor the only HIV case in the Felda settlement.
There were others, mainly hard-core drug addicts, who had been infected with HIV.
Sadly, unlike dengue campaigns, the kampung folk were not given adequate exposure with regard to information on AIDS and HIV.
Housewife Siti Murni Mustaji, 44, Norizan’s neighbour, said the authorities had never held any AIDS campaign or briefing to inform them of the deadly virus.
"What little we knew on AIDS was gathered from television and radio campaigns. The authorities should come down here to inform us what the disease is all about," she said.
Siti Murni said Norizan had concealed her condition for about four years, and the neighbours only learned about it from the newspapers.
"It was heart-wrenching. Norizan stayed at her sister’s place when her plight was published in the newspapers. She stayed away because she feared she would be an outcast here," she said.
"Most of us knew that HIV cannot be spread by touch, so when she finally came home, we welcomed and hugged her."
Siti Murni said the authorities should organise talks to educate them on the dangers of the disease.
"In general we were not squeamish about holding or being near her, but there were grey areas as how to handle the situation, to care for the patient and so on. If only we knew more, we could have offered Norizan more than just sympathy.
"If the Health Department or the local council could visit to inform us on dengue, why not AIDS? We need to know about it as well," she said.
Norizan had a transfusion of 11 pints of blood on July 17, 2001 after an emergency Caesarean section when she was seven months’ pregnant.
She was in a coma for a week and her baby only survived for 18 days.
A year later, two health officers went to her home and took samples of her blood as well as her husband’s. They confirmed that Norizan was HIV-positive and admitted that the last pint of blood was tainted with the virus.
None of her children, nor her husband, was infected.
Norizan’s husband, Ruslee Mansor, 49, said the residents were supportive in many ways and he was grateful to them, but not to the authorities when it came to educating the people about HIV and AIDS.
He said the advertisements on radio and television were too simplistic and vague.
"When one is facing the reality of the situation, information becomes crucial and the whole community needs to understand what can and should be done," he said.
Siti Marzerin, 23, daughter of the deceased, said the neighbours and the community had never looked down on her family or her late mother.
"They had been very helpful and sympathetic to our condition. When mother was ill, they helped look after my younger siblings and other household chores. They have been good and caring neighbours and my family truly appreciates it," she said.